Will Smith's first hundred in the championship came in adversity away to Sussex

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Will Smith is keen to build on Dale Benkenstein’s admirable legacy when he takes the reins as Durham captain.

Benkenstein has presided over two successive seasons of success at the Riverside, culminating in a maiden LV County Championship pennant for English cricket’s newest first-class county.

And Smith, the 26-year-old batsman, is fully aware of the values the former South Africa international brought to the captaincy, and flattered to have received his personal endorsement as his successor.

“I’m very happy and excited about it,” Smith told ecb.co.uk. “It was a huge honour and privilege when Dale even suggested the idea towards the end of the season.

“It came as a bit of a surprise then but I had time to think about it. And being the sort of person I am, I had to take it.

“Given the professional way in which Durham is ran, if they didn’t see me fit to be in charge then they wouldn’t have appointed me.”

Smith, a former Durham University student, joined the county from Nottinghamshire in 2007.

He endured a tough first season at Durham, but batted himself into such outstanding form in 2008 that he made almost 1,000 runs in 12 championship matches at an average of over 50.

Smith has forged his own style of leadership, through captaining Durham University, British Universities and also Bedford School, where he skippered England batsman Alastair Cook in his formative years.

Playing under renowned captains such as Benkenstein and Stephen Fleming has given Smith an insight into the attributes needed.

“It’s obviously going to be different stepping up to full county level. But I’ve never been one to rant and rave,” Smith said.

Dale Benkenstein: the man who first brought the LV County Championship title to the people of Durham

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“I’d like to be seen as a captain who leads by example. I’ll try to stay calm and make informed decisions.

“The best way to show people is by setting standards yourself - and that’s something that Dale has done brilliantly over the last couple of years.

“He introduced a no-excuse culture at the club - both on a mental and physical level - and really set the benchmark.”

It is a fair assumption that Smith might not have been appointed ahead of Michael Di Venuto had he not shown such resolve batting at first drop this season.

Left out of the first XI in the opening weeks, Smith made 99 and 146 opening the batting as captain of the Second XI against Northamptonshire at Milton Keynes.

He didn’t look back. Durham were reeling at 11 for four against Sussex at Hove when Smith and Benkenstein came together.

Master and apprentice put on 205, Benkenstein making 110, and Smith 107, his maiden championship century for Durham.

He followed it up with a first-class best of 201 not out against Surrey at Guildford, and an unbeaten 144 in a rain-affected draw at Old Trafford.

And Smith was there as Durham laid the groundwork for the title-sealing win at Canterbury, scoring 81 in vital stands with Di Venuto and Gareth Breese.

Smith hooks against Notts, with whom he won the 2005 county championship title

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“I felt I was getting back to how I batted when I was 18 or 19, when I was freer and more instinctive,” Smith explains.

“I’d been caught up with trying to be something I wasn’t, maybe trying too hard to be a typical opening batsman.

“I went through a bit of a lean spell after the Sussex hundred, and I was desperate to show that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

“And the double hundred came at a time in the season when a couple of bad results would have seen us slip out of contention.”

Though he was a student at Durham, Smith does not claim to feel the same tribalistic fervour for the first title as the supporters who stayed loyal through 16 years since the county was granted first-class status.

“It was certainly made aware to us by people such as Geoff Cook (head coach) and Brian Hunt (scorer) that it meant a great deal to a lot of people,” Smith said.

“It was probably more of a motivation to those behind the scenes. It was a long way off for many years, when Durham were beaten more times that they won.

“Most of the current players haven’t been around since those days, though some of our guys grew up in the area in that time.

“But there’s no doubt we all bought into what it means to the county to win.

“We have a great pride in wanting to win it - for the supporters and for ourselves.”